A company called Xoom sues Motorola. D'oh!

Mike Luttrell, 25th February 2011

Over the last few weeks, there's been a lot of discussion over Motorola's new Android 3.0-based tablet, the Xoom. But now a company that actually has that same name is suing.
Xoom Corporation was founded in 2003, and the company registered its name with the trademark office in 2004, according to the complaint. The company offers money transferring services online, like an alternative to Paypal.

"To confuse and mislead consumers, Motorola without authorization deliberately and unlawfully appropriated Xoom’s trade name and trademark rights," writes Xoom in its complaint.

Motorola has already had a tough time registering a trademark for the tablet, because the US Patent and Trademark Office said it was too similar to the trademark owned by Zoom Telephonics.

The Xoom already has an uphill battle thanks to its high price tag. This legal battle will just add to the mix.

Motorola told Bloomberg News that it hadn't received any sort of official complaint from Xoom Corp as of last night.

Because Motorola's product and the money-transferring website are so different, this isn't going to be a slam dunk case. Given the unique nature of the name, however, Xoom Corp may have an upper hand and is obviously just looking for a quick payday.